Fortress Europe Border Updates
Timeline of Events from Friday, April 10th until noon of Sunday, April 12th
Hundreds of refugees were taken from quarantine facilities and dropped off at the coast, left to fend for themselves.
Friday - 10.04.2020
At noon, the people residing in Osmaniye camp were separated according to nationality. Authorities told them they would be leaving the camp at 8pm. Shortly after 9pm a total of 10-12 buses, each with two drivers and approximately 30 people per bus, started moving to an undisclosed destination. No police or other officials were on the buses with them.
During the drive, bus drivers began talking about taking the people to the coast in Izmir.
On the same day, people who had been quarantined in Bursa camp were released and were free to go wherever they wanted - with the condition that they would need to purchase their own bus tickets.
Effective from midnight on the same night, the Turkish government put 31 cities under 48-hour lockdown, with complete restrictions on movement.
Saturday, 11.04.2020
At 11am, a group of 200-250 Syrians who had been quarantined close to Izmir were dropped off on the coast in the middle of nowhere around Behram. Bus drivers recommended to the individuals that they buy rubber dinghies and attempt to cross the sea to the Greek islands. They were left completely on their own without any water or food during the nationwide lockdown.
At approximately 1pm, approximately another 50 people were dropped off on the coast close to Çanakkale, again with no food or water.
At 2pm, ten buses from Osmaniye arrived in the deportation prison in Izmir. People were told they would be staying there for three days before being brought to the coast as well - they had been given release papers at Osmaniye camp previously, which stated they had to leave Turkey.
Ten buses carrying approximately 200 people arrived in Çanakkale at 9pm with people who had previously been at the Osmaniye camp. They were dropped off on the coast and left to fend for themselves. They have been without food for almost two days now. They do not want to cross to Greece.
At around 10.30pm, we received a message from people who had also been previously in Osmaniye and who had been taken to another location in Çanakkale. The message read: ”not much data left, 18 hours bus ride to there, 50 people in a small room, no info on what will happen - possibly might be moved somewhere else soon. No food since yesterday.”
Sunday, 12.04.2020 (so far)
This morning, the 50 people in the room in Çanakkale are still without food, and security forces have since stated they want to separate them by gender.
At 3 pm we got the update from a group of syrians. They reported that after they were taken to the coast, they were told to cross. They could not or did not want to arrange boats, so police took them again and brought them back to the deportation center. Those who had money had to pay 200 Turkish Lira and were taken to Istanbul. They arrived there at 4 am yesterday night, those who have friends or relatives in Istanbul could stay there. The others have been taken once again by the police, and once again nobody knows where. They got deportation papers stating they have to leave the country within 15 days.
Media Coverage & Attacks on Josoor
The Greek media produced extensive reports about the situation, using our information without confirming any sources with us. They had written about “corona infected refugees that are used for biological warfare”. Since the first article in Kathimerini (a newspaper) described our work as “transferring refugees”, we have since received overwhelming amounts of racist and threatening comments. People have been accusing us of facilitating illegal immigration.
In a press statement later today we will clarify once again that we are not in any way involved in the matters of which we have been accused. Our work consists of distributing basic supplies to people who have been left with nothing, and to report accurately about the situations they face. During the current situation, we also inform them about the dangers of crossing to Greece, the horrible conditions in the camps on the islands and the lack of possibility of reaching the Greek mainland, or other European countries from the camps. Furthermore, we inform the public as much as possible about the situation on the ground and try to get medical attention to those in need, in order to urge Europe to act and take responsibility for those stuck at the borders.
Friday - 10.04.2020
At noon, the people residing in Osmaniye camp were separated according to nationality. Authorities told them they would be leaving the camp at 8pm. Shortly after 9pm a total of 10-12 buses, each with two drivers and approximately 30 people per bus, started moving to an undisclosed destination. No police or other officials were on the buses with them.
During the drive, bus drivers began talking about taking the people to the coast in Izmir.
On the same day, people who had been quarantined in Bursa camp were released and were free to go wherever they wanted - with the condition that they would need to purchase their own bus tickets.
Effective from midnight on the same night, the Turkish government put 31 cities under 48-hour lockdown, with complete restrictions on movement.
Saturday, 11.04.2020
At 11am, a group of 200-250 Syrians who had been quarantined close to Izmir were dropped off on the coast in the middle of nowhere around Behram. Bus drivers recommended to the individuals that they buy rubber dinghies and attempt to cross the sea to the Greek islands. They were left completely on their own without any water or food during the nationwide lockdown.
At approximately 1pm, approximately another 50 people were dropped off on the coast close to Çanakkale, again with no food or water.
At 2pm, ten buses from Osmaniye arrived in the deportation prison in Izmir. People were told they would be staying there for three days before being brought to the coast as well - they had been given release papers at Osmaniye camp previously, which stated they had to leave Turkey.
Ten buses carrying approximately 200 people arrived in Çanakkale at 9pm with people who had previously been at the Osmaniye camp. They were dropped off on the coast and left to fend for themselves. They have been without food for almost two days now. They do not want to cross to Greece.
At around 10.30pm, we received a message from people who had also been previously in Osmaniye and who had been taken to another location in Çanakkale. The message read: ”not much data left, 18 hours bus ride to there, 50 people in a small room, no info on what will happen - possibly might be moved somewhere else soon. No food since yesterday.”
Sunday, 12.04.2020 (so far)
This morning, the 50 people in the room in Çanakkale are still without food, and security forces have since stated they want to separate them by gender.
At 3 pm we got the update from a group of syrians. They reported that after they were taken to the coast, they were told to cross. They could not or did not want to arrange boats, so police took them again and brought them back to the deportation center. Those who had money had to pay 200 Turkish Lira and were taken to Istanbul. They arrived there at 4 am yesterday night, those who have friends or relatives in Istanbul could stay there. The others have been taken once again by the police, and once again nobody knows where. They got deportation papers stating they have to leave the country within 15 days.
Media Coverage & Attacks on Josoor
The Greek media produced extensive reports about the situation, using our information without confirming any sources with us. They had written about “corona infected refugees that are used for biological warfare”. Since the first article in Kathimerini (a newspaper) described our work as “transferring refugees”, we have since received overwhelming amounts of racist and threatening comments. People have been accusing us of facilitating illegal immigration.
In a press statement later today we will clarify once again that we are not in any way involved in the matters of which we have been accused. Our work consists of distributing basic supplies to people who have been left with nothing, and to report accurately about the situations they face. During the current situation, we also inform them about the dangers of crossing to Greece, the horrible conditions in the camps on the islands and the lack of possibility of reaching the Greek mainland, or other European countries from the camps. Furthermore, we inform the public as much as possible about the situation on the ground and try to get medical attention to those in need, in order to urge Europe to act and take responsibility for those stuck at the borders.
